In recent years, a technology called augmented reality (AR) has been drawing attention in which a real world with additional information overlaid thereon is presented to a user. Information presented to a user in the AR technology is also called an annotation, and can be visualized using virtual objects in various forms such as text, icons, or animations. In the existing AR technology, a developer of an AR application mainly plays a role in arranging virtual objects in the AR space. The developer determines which virtual object should be arranged in what position and in what attitude in the AR space. The thus determined arrangement of the virtual object is stored as data in association with a given environment (e.g., a specific space, place, real object, or a collection of real objects in the real space). Consequently, an AR application is realized in which when an end user captures an image of the environment using an imaging device, a virtual object associated with the environment is overlaid on the captured image.
Patent Literature 1 below shows an example of a technology for modeling a real space in a stage before a virtual object is arranged. Patent Literature 2 below shows an example of a technology that uses a natural marker with the objective of calculating the position and the attitude of an imaging device that are needed for overlaying a virtual object on a captured image.